On Evangeline Lilly and The Hobbit

TG Daily Staff, 19th September 2011

Evangeline Lilly will be playing Tauriel - a Silvan Elf of Mirkwood - in Peter Jackson's upcoming adaption of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.

As all LOTR fans know, Tauriel is actually a newly created character who doesn't appear in the original Hobbit. Her presence in the long-awaited, two-part film will undoubtedly anger canon purists - but should appeal to a fresh generation of Tolkien fans.

Interestingly enough, Lilly views herself as somewhat of a stickler for adhering to the text as closely as possible, but says she understands why Jackson wanted Tauriel in the new movies.

"[Yes], I am very concerned to this day that people will watch the film and I'll be the black mark on the film. I know how adamant the purists are and I'm one of them!" Lilly told SFX.

"That said, upon reading The Hobbit again, as an adult, I can see why additional characters were needed to round out the story as an adaptation – especially female characters! The Hobbit didn't include female characters at all and was a very linear story, a book for children, really."

According to Lilly, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are keeping Tolkien's world intact, while simply adding a third dimension to an otherwise very two-dimensional story.

"When the original [LOTR] came out in theaters, I swore up and down that I would not see them because I thought it was sacrilege that anyone would adapt Tolkien's work. I didn't think anyone would justify films by making them as good as they should be.

"Then my entire family when I was visiting went to see the movie and so I relented and went. We were all fans of the books and we were all blown away! It was a little piece of magic what Peter Jackson accomplished because it was truly a homage to the books rather than an offense."